Britta Bienen

Professor Britta Bienen is a leading academic in offshore geotechnical engineering at The University of Western Australia's School of Earth and Oceans. She holds the position of UWA Oceans Institute Professor and has expertise in offshore wind turbine foundations, soil-structure interaction, and centrifuge modeling. Her research focuses on optimizing foundation designs for renewable energy installations, including monopiles and suction caissons, with a strong emphasis on experimental and numerical approaches.

Education: PhD in Offshore Geotechnical Engineering from COFS (Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems), Diplom-Ingenieur from RWTH Aachen University (Germany), and Bachelor of Engineering from Napier University (UK). She was an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow (2011–2014) and served as Lloyd’s Register Foundation Chair in Offshore Foundations (2018–2020).

Research interests include installation strategies for offshore foundations, rapid shearing in saturated sand, and wave dynamics affecting jack-up vessels. She collaborates internationally with academia (e.g., Oxford, Cambridge, Technical University of Hamburg) and industry partners (e.g., Ørsted, Equinor, DNV GL).

Grants and Funding: Holder of multiple ARC grants including 'Foundations for offshore wind turbines in Australian carbonate seabed sediments' (ARC LP) and 'Unlocking new generation physical modelling with realistic soil response' (ARC DP). Current projects address offshore energy installation challenges and design guidelines.

Teaching: Program Chair of the Master of Ocean Leadership, coordinating courses like 'Ocean Engineering and Technology' and 'Energy from Oceans.' Supervised 13 PhD and 14 Master’s students.

Awards: 2020 John Booker Medal (Australian Academy of Science), Telford Premium Prize (2022), and OGS Mid-Career Award (2022).